1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to telecommunications systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for managing call requests in a communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, telecommunications systems provide the ability for two or more people or machines (e.g., computerized or other electronic devices) to communicate with each other. A telecommunications system may include various networks for facilitating communication that may be generally organized into packet-switched networks and circuit-switched networks. Exemplary packet-switched networks include internet protocol (IP) networks, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, frame-relay networks, and the like. One type of packet-switched communication network is a voice-over-internet protocol (VOIP) network. An exemplary circuit-switched network includes a plain old telephone system (POTS), such as the publicly switched telephone network (PSTN).
Notably, some users of a telecommunication system may have multiple phone numbers associated with various devices. For example, a user may have a telephone number associated with a time division multiplexing (TDM) phone, another telephone number associated with an internet protocol (IP) phone, and yet another telephone number associated with a cellular telephone. Users may desire to keep some telephone numbers private, yet still be able to receive calls from an approved set of calling parties. Users may further desired to specify specific call handling treatments for calling parties that are not approved.